By NOEL MURPHY
ROCKETING through the skies at a belting 1042 kmh, or 340 metres a second, is one of Geelong’s little-known aviation stunts that’s gone into the record books as an Australian first.
August 11, 1953 — 60 years ago this month – saw Sabre pilot Bill Scott push his jet into a dive high above Avalon Airport that breached that speed for the first time in Australia.
The sonic boom he created by breaking the speed of sound, a distinctive thud, was relayed live to thousands of Geelong listeners on radio 3GL.
Bellarine Historical Society’s Peter Cowden told the Independent the event was a memorable one that featured in media across the country.
“He climbed quickly to 42,000 feet (12,800 metres) before putting the aircraft into a dive,’’ Mr Cowden said.
“At 37,000 feet (11,300 metres), Scott passed through the sound barrier.’’
The sound barrier is an aerodynamic effect where increased air pressure causes physical turbulence in the air surrounding the plane. It can lead to handling difficulties, in some cases causing aircraft to crash, Mr Cowden said.
“With the rapid development of jet engines bringing great potential for much faster aircraft speeds, the sound barrier was then a serious problem’’ he said.
“Urgent scientific research resulted a major changes to aircraft design, particularly wing design, which have since overcome the problem and are part of high-speed aircraft design today.’’
